Mama's Potato Soup

This one was scary for me! Who on earth can ever cook food as good as their Mom? Not me, that's for sure. There's just something about food from your Mom and Grandma, that you just can't copy. It never taste just quite the same or just as good. 

But, I tried anyways and it turned out well! This was a staple dinner when I was living with my parents, and I always looked forward to a bowl, or two, or three on chilly nights or when I wanted something hearty and salty. It was one of the things I craved most from my Mama's cooking. My SS loves potato soup, and most importantly his Grandma's, so he was excited that I was copying her recipe tonight.

This is definitely a dish that takes some practice in my opinion, no matter how great of a cook you are. There were plenty of nights my Mom would complain that it wasn't thick enough or have enough flavor or whatever was wrong! But once you've got it down, it's more likely you'll get it right more often than you won't. These are the ingredients I used, some exact measurements, some guesstimates. But use what amount works best for you. As long as you have the right ingredients, measurements don't need to be exact.

Ingredients:

4 large potatoes

4 thick slices of bacon

Half a large onion

2 large carrots

2 celery stalks

Flour (about 5 tsp?)

Butter (optional, used about 2 tbsp)

2 1/2 cups of chicken broth

2 cups of milk (guessing)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Garnish with
Cheese 

Crackers

Bacon bits

First you want to start by cleaning, peeling, and dicing your potatoes. Boil them in a large pot of salted water for 15 minutes. When done, dice and brown some bacon in the pot. Cut onion, carrot, and celery into tiny bites. Remove bacon when cooked and throw in diced veggies into the bacon grease. Cook over low-medium heat until they are soft.

Add flour to grease to make a rue. This is when you can add your butter if you like. I did because I didn't have enough bacon grease. You can also add some vegetable oil if you aren't getting much of a rue. My fault for not leaving all the fat on the bacon.... Stir and cook until light brown, and salt while cooking. Add your chicken broth. You can add 2-4 cups depending on the thickness you want. I love my potato soup thick, so I only did two and half cups. Add your potatoes and some milk, and stir it all up until it becomes the thickness you want. 

Top with bacon and cheese, serve with some crackers, and be sure to salt and pepper to taste!

This was so scary for me, and I was so frustrated that it wasn't working that I almost threw it all out. But once I got it to start thickening, all was right in the world again. SS loved it and actually ate every bite. Something that is hard for him to do recently. There's still plenty left over for Hubby to eat when he gets home from work, and enough for me to snack on some if I get hungry while waiting.

Experiment with this recipe and let me know how it goes! I've been missing my Mom a bit recently since it is now two full weeks since we've been completely moved into our home. So it was nice to have a little piece of her at my house tonight. There's nothing in the world like Mama's love filled comfort food.